Boy's San Pedro kidnap story a hoax, say police

An 11-year-old boy who told police that a man in a black mask kidnapped him as he walked home from his San Pedro school Wednesday was lying, authorities said today.

The boy made the story up to avoid discipline from his parents, possibly to explain his disappearance for three hours after school, police said.

The boy admitted to detectives that he made up the story during questioning late Wednesday at the Harbor Division station, Los Angeles police Lt. Sue Willis said. | POLICE NEWS

By that time, however, the boy's story had spread to the media and was reported on television and on the Internet. KTLA interviewed his father, who described his son's apparent ordeal.

But during questioning, the 6th-grader told police detectives that he took off when his parents were late picking him up after dismissal from Dana Middle School about 3 p.m. He bought Skittles at a liquor store and walked around San Pedro.

His parents searched for him, finding him after 6 p.m. on Gaffey Street.

That's when he told his kidnapping tale, which was reported to police, Willis said.

In an interview on KTLA, the boy's father said his son explained that a man in a white car told him to "come here." The man, he said, wore black gloves and a mask.

The boy ran, but the man chased him down, grabbed him, put duct tape on his mouth and dragged him into the car, the father said.

The boy told his father that the man took him to Alma Park, where they talked and the man went through his pockets. The boy said he kicked the man in the private area, stunning him, and ran away, pulling the duct tape and a handkerchief from his face, the father told the news station.

Police opened an investigation and interviewed the boy. Although he had a tear in his pants, he appeared otherwise healthy and uninjured, Willis said.

During the police interview, the boy confessed to making it all up, police said.

"He was afraid he was going to get in trouble," Willis said.

The boy will face no repercussions from law enforcement. Any discipline will be up to his parents, Willis said.

"We just wanted to make sure we didn't have some man kidnapping children," Willis said.